Monday, March 21, 2011

Nick Redfern assesses the UFO phenomenon

3 Comments:

Nick is focusing on a few specific way-out cases and trying to link them. Actually the most outlandish early abduction tale (probably the earliest ever known) was that of Antonio Villas-Boaz in late 1957. But that scarcely gets a mention nowadays. The Hills have always been assumed to be the first, and best, of this genre.

Strangeness of cases is purely subjective. Changing color, changing shape, 'angel hair', strange smells (Flatwoods), odd sounds, oddly shaped 'entities', even odd phrases uttered by the 'aliens' are all peculiarities of UFOs. There was even one French contact case where the 'visitor' claimed to be suffering from indigestion!

There is no reason to link them in any way. If you really want to find a guaranteed link between them you need look no further than the one Being who many, many people are convinced created the whole universe - God. Why look any further?

I'm not trying to link them. I'm pointing out that Ufology (even seemingly credible cases) is rife with absurdities - and maybe there is a reason for that beyond hoaxes.

It's interesting you mention the Villas-Boas case. Before he allegedly left the UFO, he tried to steal a clock-like device, but was thwarted from doing so by a crew-member.

Jacques Vallee noted that while the "hands" of the "clock" made it look like a clock, the hands did not move.

Vallee added: "The symbolism in this remark by Villas-Boas is clear. We are reminded of the fairy tales...of the country where time does not pass."

In addition, centuries-old folklore is replete with tales of people who claimed to have visited the realm of the fairies and who tried to bring back with them a souvenir, only to be thwarted at the last minute - just like Villas Boas.

Do real fairies exist, as ethereal, little winged figures? Of course not! Anymore than Villas-Boas impregnated a girl from the stars.

But, there is a phenomenon - in my view - that is behind all this, and obfuscation, charade and masquerade are its tools.

God? A belief-system, nothing more. That does not mean there is not a creator, or even some form of life after death (personally I'm agnostic veering towards athiest), but putting something in one rigid context of God, is the same as people who utterly refuse to accept anything beyond the ETH for UFOs.

There are countless religions, with countless beliefs. They clearly, therefore, can't all be correct. That is, unless the intelligence behind creator stories, experiences and encounters was itself a Trickster - which would indeed allow for multiple belief systems via the use of manipulation and stage-managed encounters (St. Paul conversion; Moses and the 10 Commandments; Joseph Smith's clearly-Contactee like encounter, Muhammad, etc).

Whether it's UFOs, or the formation of religion, the Human Race has been well and truly played.

By what and for what purpose(s) is the big question.

But believing in "God" is as uncritically simplistic as not questioning why Betty and Barney Hill's aliens needed a map!